Traditional OCS

December 15th, 2010, 09:48 AM

I am going to do the traditional route for OCS. My physical is scheduled for 23 Dec. The recruiter gave me a schedule for the pre-phase 0, phase 0, and Phase I. My question is, if i am not back in time to attend the pre-phase 0, is that a big issue? The recruiter said that as long as i am back by the end of April or beginning of May i should be good to go. Is this true? Phase 0 is 9-13 May so i should't have a problem making that. Should the people at MEPS who give us our ship out dates know the timeline of when we need to start, and when we have to have Basic training completed?

On a seperate issue, i am curious how things are handled if a person misses a weekend drill during the OCS phase. Whether it be due to illness, emergency or whatever, how is that handled, and is there some type of makeup session or anything like that? Thanks for anyones input or answers!

In my state (NJ), missing a phase zero or pre-phase zero drill of OCS, as long as you were back a drill weekend or two before phase I to get all your stuff ready and paperwork together.

Once Phase I has begun, you are officially in OCS. Missing more than 9 hours (i think it's nine, could be a couple more), is a recommendation to be dropped or recycled from the course. So if one weekend you are sick, you show up anyways. Flat tire on the way to drill and you miss 4 hours? It goes in your records and it adds up.

Long story short, once you start OCS, you cant miss drill. The hours missed accumulate and miss enough (a relatively small amount) and you are recycled or relieved.